Asia Future Shock

30 essential insights into Asian business

The transformation of China, India and much of the rest of Asia is seismic. Never has the region changed so much in such a short time. But change means opportunity and risk – big risk. Do you know what to expect? Is your business prepared? Are you ready?
 
The numbers are staggering:
 
Within ten years, funds under management in China will grow to at least US$1.5 trillion, 100 million mainland Chinese tourists will pour out of China annually, Singapore will be a major haven for hidden offshore funds, Thai hospitals will be major providers of healthcare in Asia, the Middle East and to under-insured Americans, and shortages of management talent in India and China will be even more acute.
 
Within 20 years, a billion more people will live in Asia’s cities than do already, China will be a major sophisticated weapons exporter, Malaysia will have almost run out of oil, and divorce and family breakdown will mean that the size of the average Asian household will be substantially smaller.
 
Within 25 years, Japan’s population will have shrunk by 20 million, there will be 250 million more men than women in India and China, half the world’s nuclear reactors will be in Asia, the world’s biggest community of English speakers will be in China, and Asia-wide water shortages will see big hikes in food prices.
 
Asia Future Shock is designed for corporate strategists and scenario builders, to alert them to these and other major shifts and to identify the opportunities and risks.

MICHAEL BACKMAN is an Author, Business Analyst and Columnist who specializes in Asia and Asian corporate practice. He is the author of the international bestseller, Asian Eclipse: Exposing the Dark Side of Business in Asia, which was named by The Economist as one of the sixteen finest general non-fiction books of the year. He is the co-author of Big in Asia: 25 Strategies for Business Success. He writes several regular newspaper columns on Asian business, has authored numerous articles for The Times of London, International Herald Tribune, Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review and has been quoted on Asian corporate matters in many leading publications around the world including The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, Fortune and The Economist. He has lived and worked in Asia and travels widely and regularly throughout the region.

Michael Backman “really understands why business evolved the way that it did in Asia.”
The Economist
 
Michael Backman is “a brilliant writer on regional business strategies.”
Australian Financial Review
 
“Backman’s excellent and extensive case studies are aimed at pointing out the pitfalls to foreign investors.”
The Independent